The Toyota Cheetahs are delighted to return to Bloemfontein with points on the road following their outstanding win against the Zebre in Parma, Italy, during the opening round of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

The Cheetahs kicked off their campaign with a solid 33-15 win against the Italian outfit, in a match where the Free Staters always seemed to remain in control despite not dominating the possession or territory stats.

Their defence was simply outstanding, and despite leaving some points on the park, they made use of the scoring opportunities for the most part.

This week is arguably going to be tougher for the Cheetahs as they will host the Sharks on Sunday in what will be the first-ever Challenge Cup derby to be played in Bloemfontein.

The Springbok-laden Sharks will head to the City of Roses with confidence following their 45-5 win against Section Paloise of France at Kings’ Park in Durban.

That said, the team the Cheetahs fielded on Saturday was not quite their strongest team, but they would have also taken a lot of confidence out of their performance.

The Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport he felt his team adapted really well to the conditions and even if it rained they would have dealt with it.

“In any competition that you play, it's important to start well, and we managed to do that,” said Fourie before boarding the flight back to South Africa.

“It was difficult to prepare for Zebre in Bloemfontein because of the difference in conditions, but I must compliment the players because they adapted really well.”

“Luckily it didn't rain, but I felt that even if it did, we were well enough prepared to adapt.”

The Cheetahs captain, Victor Sekekete, in his turn told OFM Sport that it was important for them to convert their chances into points, and he felt they did that well.

“Everything revealed itself in terms of how we wanted to play and attack, later in the second half," said the Currie Cup winning captain.

“That's when we got and used our opportunities. At the beginning of the game, we did mention that it's going to be about using the opportunities that we get, and I think we did that really well.”

Sunday’s game between the Cheetahs and Sharks at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 15:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport